Aircraft wings are necessarily large, and their size makes it difficult to move and store an aircraft when it is not in flight. Accordingly, many designs have been previously proposed for reducing the space occupied by aircraft wings when the aircraft is not in flight. One area of particular applicability of such designs arises with regard to so-called roadable aircraft. Generally stated, roadable aircraft are aircraft that may be converted for surface travel upon a roadway.
Most of the previously-proposed designs for reducing the space occupied by the wings of an aircraft when it is not in flight can be characterized either as folding wing designs or telescopic wing designs. Since foldable wing designs leave the entire wing exposed when folded, a roadable aircraft having folded wings would experience significant adverse wind loading on its wings when operated as a surface vehicle. Thus, foldable wings are not well suited to use with roadable aircraft.
Although telescopic wing designs necessarily contemplate a retracted position wherein the extent to which the wing is exposed during surface travel is reduced, a majority of previous designs offer only a limited degree of wing size reduction. Since roadable aircraft must be designed so as to fit within the travel lane of a roadway, those telescopic wing structures that provide only limited wing size reduction and thus are not suited for use with roadable aircraft. Although telescopic wing designs have been proposed that do provide a significant reduction in the length of the wing by using telescopic structural spars, telescoping structural members are costly to produce, and require complex extension and retraction mechanisms.
A telescopic wing that provides for a significant reduction in wing length by providing an articulated structural spar has not previously been known.